Windmill construction



ly l, J. 5' BAKER;

WINDMILL CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 19, 1931 '4o Fig. l is section taken respectively along ensured iuiy ii, ieee i llifl so STATES PATENT oi-riciijp` tviiiniiiitn oons'irniiorion Application filed January 13, 193i. Serial No. 509,507.

rlhis invention relates 'to improvements in ifi ui'nelini llaiid rigid with a tubular mast Y Windmills and has more particular referor jjz vof; tiibe in the forni oi a pipe o through ence to the construction of the swivel eonneotunion ine muni) rod 7 reeiprooates. Elie ing` the furling Chain and the pull oord so iziast ed to turn about its longitudis inoiir that the mill may be brought into and out of nel axis' iii tlieniipiier end of theV tourer e'liieli the Wind in any angular position of the mill His @imposed or wiipiijziiiliy.eonverging angle relative to its supporting tower. mn. to weren tiiedi 4 Iesentin? The general object of the invention is to i'e'rton is fiireeieu prorides a Yiorre-trans- Y provide a new and improved Windmill swivel roiiilieetioii between apiili cord 2.. Vwhich is simple and inexpensive in oonstruoteiiiis toa point adjaeent "Lilie gioiuici tion. reliable in operation, and Capable of iiirling el Vn 'l0 vWliioli ext-enne up- Witlistandinir the severe stresses to which it ii along the pivot tube and around may beoomsubjeced in Sel-vice. e "es ll ioiconne ion inthe usual inaniier Nomrspegcally Stated, he invention y'e- "el i 'nirwliioi carries tire Wini'iniiil rane sides in tlie novel character of the swivel (not suoi@ l* n A 1 i' Y "L v x proper which enables the siviveling action 7 liesujirei iijopei,"wiiioii loeateitaliove between'its rotatable and non-rotatable parts Upper eiiii o l the tower and ljree to to be produced bv spiraling of the urling iCCi'PF-mi@ )lidilgl-fiuiilliy of' the tube is chain irliile under tension. Cleiiiposedoi a non-rotatable iiiember intlie.- Llwhg OMG@ is o wmf-ii Howlin mi ini oi a ring; linnn 'a rotatable nieniber vin struotedbail constituting` a force-transmitting 9 OlilGf' H 4S9111l-CHCMMSgllilt The connection between the non-rotatable member im?" 13@ gffill lili@ Gillll-wf0@ ot the swivel and the pull Cord by which the "itA tuig@ und is 'thus admi '1e-dto slide lonv mm i@ furled. i e j tiiiialiy tlL i otwli'ile the mill is being r; @they Objects and advantages@ the in; or iinituried, at the saine time beiiii vention will become apparent :troin'tlie folturn.) relative to tne tube. 1, ilie lois/er lowing' detailed description taken in oonnee- Y' tno iuii'ing eiiain il) may iielattaei-ieii tion ivith the accompanying drawing, in "f S` g'ii10i1- tiioiigi'ii 'tire iiiei'iiiiin oifan r which e l outwardlyy progectiiig lug le integral ivitii' i Figure l is a fragmentary elevational view il? Selen L f K VA Q oiu the upper portion of the tower of a Wind- M1141@ lff'esm llslmc; dl@ 21M-lil? 1S @mi mill equippedwith a swivel embodying the PWM "f 0WD Stllmfn stllllfb WHOS@ .if'llh 'features of the present invention. f

Cent' ends have 'outwardly projecting lugs f vl5 and are adapted toV be elaini ed'to0etliei blv e Fig'. 2 is a view similar to Fig. kl looliing ,L if, y .l n 4 .y f I L 5 l i moin; io. At its upper enge each sesfiiienc4 oi' roin the left theieo l. K. y ,No i

11- v ine iing nasan inturiied Hanne li ilelining F". 3 is a view similar to nie. 2 showing M L f 1 el, ,4, 1 i h 22 t bln 1L of the Swivel in Q66 a Geni-ral oiicular krecess.Wiiieii is'oi suchk l "c Q i 1 i I. I t. e wn 10 1m pa l' diameter that the segment lil progeets Yfreely l10n' through tlie ring when the latter 'is eneir- U A 2 cling the tube 6; Beneath the l?, theL lillvlllle T4 0f ,Fg- 1 segment 13 vis rornieclu'itli .an integral lioi iilnile ilie invention is susceptibie of va- 70mm lemme 18 which cmpemteg with Hw f i; xc i L. i. i i-.ioiis inooilications and 1alternatif e cons-rue-V ange n to P1-Onde mi wmtwe swlwhlg mondi lml'vqe'holl'n m in@ h'ilwmg am* Wm between the rotatable and non-rotatable nu iiherein desoribein detaiL the preiiei'ren eiiibel-S above dmpimigal agis of the, min 1 bodiinent, but it is to be understood that l Means iS provided 01- tmngmittng ehe do not thereby intend to limit the invention actuating ferne from the pullveord 9to the to the siieeiiio form disclosed but intend to swivel and vfor lioldiiio tlie rino' l2 ai 1 7 m i i C" m I n, cover all inodiiioations and alternative conturning. ibis means ooniprises'a el-sliaiied struetions fallingh Within the spirit and scope bail i9 liavinga horizontall)7 extending;` closed of the invention as expressed in tne appended end disposed Within the tow r struetureand claims. tufo upwardly extending parallel legs 20. ln ln the exemplary forni of tne invention order to give the bail strength to resist all illustrated in the drawing.y tlie nuineralindiof the forces to which it mayY be siilueeted Cates a casing housing the operating parts in service, it is preferably formed from a j fio nariow strip of flat sheet metal stock. Initially,the end portions of the strip are bent edgewise to forni the closed end of the bail, the central portion of which is bent into a semicircle to conform to the curvature of the lower end of the mast as shown in Fig. 4. This leaves radially projecting portions 21 and the legs 20 disposed in a. vertical plane including the pivotal axis of the mill, so that with the pull cord 9 attached to the portions 21 the actuating force applied thereby acts substantially along the swiveling axis of the mill.

Vith the bail thus partially formed, its legs 20 are twisted through an angle of ninety degrees so that their upper ends are disposed at right angles to the portions Q1. Theextreni'e upper ends of the legs proJect into spaces between the lugs15 and are suitably bent so that they may be firmly clamped be' tween the lugs by the bolts 16.

Assuming thatr the linkage is under tension with the parts positioned as shown in Fig. 3, the action of the swivel is as follows. Inasmuch as the lug 14 is projecting at right an- Ules to the bail legs 20, the reaction of the Iurling chain tends to tilt the ring 12 in a. direction to place the upper ends of the legs 20 under severe bending stress. But the legs, being disposed edgewise to the line of action of this force, are strong to resist such bending. New, as the windmill head and the pivot tube 6 turn relative to the tower, the 4ring 12 is held against movement by the bail on which the tower bars S act as stops and turning of the segment 13 is resisted by friction between the ianges 17 and'18. Thus the chain 10 becomes inclined or spiraled around the tube 6 thereby exerting a torsional force tending to tui'n the segment 13 relative to the ring 12. Such spiraling continues as the head turns until the torsional force due to such spiraling overcomes the friction between the flanges whereupon the segment turns slightly in the same direction as the windmill head. Thus, the swiveling action is produced by spiraling of the furling chain when under tension. Y When the segment 13 has turned suiciently to bring the lug llinto the plane of the legs 20 as shown in Fig'. 1, the force tending to tilt the ring 12 exerts a distorting action on the bail by tending to shift one leg thereof longitudinally relative to the other leg. The closed end of the bail being disposed in a vertical plane is sti-ong to resist such force and etlectually prevents distortion of the bail.

It will be apparent that I have provided a swivel of exceedingly simple construction, which is adapted for use with pull-in or pullout windmills, and which effectively resists the various distorting stresses to which it becomes sub]ected in service.

I claim as my invention:

l. In combination with a windmill tower ltower and lying flat against said pipe so that the major portion ot the bail is disposed in a plane including the axis of said pipe, the legs of said bail projecting upwardly through the tower and attach-ed to opposite sides of said ring, said ends being twisted through a right angle relative to said closed end.

2. In combination with a windmill tower and a vertically extending pivot tube swiveled in and projez-ting above the upper end of the tower, a swivel including` a ring encirn cling said tube above the upper end of said tower, and a U-shaped bail composed of a flat metal strip bent edgewisc into a U-shape with its closed end disposed within said tower and connected to the pull cord of the windmill, the extreme ends ot the legs of the bail being twisted relative to said closed end through a right angle and attached to said ring.

3. In combination with a windmill, a nonrotatable swivel ring disposed yin horizontal position and encircling the vertical pivotal axis of the windmill, an upwardly opening U-shaped bail having a horizontally extending intermediate portion aeapted to resist vertical bending, and flat vertical legs with the upper ends disposed parallel to each other so as to resist bending in a horizontal direction,l said ends being atta hed to opposite sides of said ring.

4.-. In a windmill fui-ling swivel, a bail formed from a fiat metal strip bent endwise into a U-shape with its legs twisted relative to the closed end oi the bail so to resist lateralbending.

5. In a` windmill the combinationof a tower and a vertically extending pivot tube ,projecting above the upper end thereo'l, a

furling chain extending downwardly along said tube above the upper end of said tower, a ring encircling saidtube and adapted to be actuated by the pull cord of the windmill, a member disposed adjacent said tube and cooperating with said ringto term a swivel, said member being` attached to the lower end of said chain so that the swiveling action between the ring and said member is produced by spiraling of the chain about said tube.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto aiiixcd my signature.

JOHN S. BAKER.

lie

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CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION.

Patent No. 1,917,631. July l1, 1933.

JOHN S. BAKER.

it is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above mamhered patent requiring cerrection as follows: Page 2, line 115,k claim 5, strike out the words "above the upper emi of said tower" and insert the same after "tube" in line 116; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 24th day oi October, A. D. 1933,

F. M. Hopkins (Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

